Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Standing Charges

Andy Carter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help protect consumers from significant increases by energy companies in standing charges.

Greg Hands: For millions of households the level of standing charge is protected by the energy price cap rate set by Ofgem. While the setting of tariffs is a commercial matter for individual supply companies, the energy unit rate and the standing charge together must not exceed the price cap. Ofgem have recently launched a consultation to review the component of the Standing Charge that consumers pay toward the Supplier of Last Resort levy. Ofgem expects to publish a response in August.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services: Females

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of women’s health hubs.

Maria Caulfield: Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department has commissioned the Birmingham, RAND Europe and Cambridge (BRACE) Rapid Evaluation Centre to scope an evaluation of existing women’s health hubs. This evaluation is expected to conclude in early 2023.

Coronavirus: Screening

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reintroducing free covid-19 lateral flow tests in the context of the increasing infection rate.

Maggie Throup: The Government regularly reviews the response to COVID-19 to ensure it remains effective and proportionate. Given the variants which are currently dominant, it would not be cost-effective to provide universal free testing for those not at risk of serious illness. We will continue to make sure that we are prepared in the event of a dangerous new variant, including with testing infrastructure and capabilities.

Patients: Rehabilitation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help ensure that families are involved in the rehabilitation of patients in the NHS.

Gillian Keegan: The ‘RightCare: Community Rehabilitation Toolkit’ recognises the importance of the involvement of families and carers in the rehabilitation of patients in the National Health Service. The Toolkit is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/rightcare/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2020/03/nhs-rightcare-community-rehab-toolkit-v12.pdfNHS England has established a Care Partner Advisory Board comprised of people with lived experience including family carers, third sector groups, the Royal College of Nursing, clinicians, nurses, and specialists. The Advisory Board will support the development of a care partner policy for implementation from 2023. This will emphasise the partnership role of families, carers and those important to the patient with staff in achieve personalised and person-centred outcomes.

Antidepressants: Pregnancy

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the safety of mirtazapine for use during pregnancy.

Maria Caulfield: While there is currently limited data on the use of mirtazapine in pregnant women, the data available do not indicate an increased risk of congenital malformations. Caution is advised when used during pregnancy, particularly as until or shortly before the birth, the baby should be monitored for any possible side effects relating to withdrawal or toxicity.The product information also includes information about the potential risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, which is known to be associated with the use of some antidepressants with a similar mechanism of action as mirtazapine.The safety of mirtazapine use in pregnancy is continually monitored and assessed through the periodic review of the latest available data from scientific studies and side effects reported through the Yellow Card Scheme. The product information is updated in response to these ongoing data assessments to reflect the most up to date advice for patients and prescribers.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time for an ambulance was during the Level 4 heatwave alert on (a) 18 July and (b) 19 July 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not currently held in the format requested. Data for ambulance response times in July 2022 is currently being collated and validated and will be published in August 2022.

West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust: Standards

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time for West Midlands Ambulance Service to respond to category 2 emergencies was in Shropshire in each month of (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Maria Caulfield: This information is not held in the format requested.

NHS 111

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many calls to NHS 111 were abandoned in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the number of NHS 111 calls abandoned after 30 seconds or more between January and March 2019. January to March 2019153,692Source: NHS England, NHS 111 Minimum Data Set Since April 2019, data has been collected on the total number of abandoned calls, which is shown in the following table. April to December 2019716,15420202,490,66320213,531,186January to May 20221,174,159 Source: NHS England, Integrated Urgent Care Aggregate Data Collection

Ambulance Services: Emergency Calls

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of Category 1 calls to NHS Ambulance Trusts in England did not require emergency treatment in (a) the third quarter of 2021, (b) the fourth quarter of 2021, (c) the first quarter of 2022 and (d) the second quarter of 2022, by NHS Ambulance Trust.

Maria Caulfield: The data requested is not collected centrally.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Barnet Hospital and Royal Free Hospital

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is at the accident and emergency unit at (a) Barnet and (b) Royal Free Hospitals in the latest period for which data is available.

Maria Caulfield: This information is not held in the format requested. However, the average median waiting time to treatment in accident and emergency (A&E) at the Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in May 2022 was 92 minutes. The average median waiting time in total in A&E for the Trust for all patients in May 2022 was 486 minutes.

Cystic Fibrosis: Prescriptions

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report from Cystic Fibrosis UK entitled The cost of cystic fibrosis 2022, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of prescription charges for people with (a) cystic fibrosis and (b) other health conditions.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report from Cystic Fibrosis UK entitled The cost of cystic fibrosis 2022, whether he has plans to change the arrangements for charging people with long term conditions for their prescriptions.

Maria Caulfield: We have no plans to do so and no specific assessment has been made. Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and arrangements are in place to help those with the greatest need. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension. Some people with cystic fibrosis may meet the eligibility criteria for prescription charge exemptions and may therefore be in receipt of free prescriptions.To support those who do not qualify for a medical exemption, the cost of prescriptions can be capped by purchasing a prescription pre-payment certificate, which can be paid for in instalments. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.

Health Services: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure that NHS capacity is maintained in the event of staff sickness or bed occupancy over the winter months due to covid-19.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England is currently working with local systems to review capacity and pressures. Further guidance for the National Health Service on winter planning and priorities is expected to be issued in due course.

NHS: Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money in total was paid by the National Health Service in England to private contractors in 2021.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally.

Department of Health and Social Care: Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value has been of contracts held by their Department with (a) G4S, (b) Serco and (c) Capita in each year since 2020.

Maria Caulfield: Details of Government contracts from 2016 above £10,000 and £25,000 in the wider public sector are published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Endometriosis

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the context of the forthcoming Women's Health Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure adherence to NICE guidelines for (a) diagnosing and (b) treating endometriosis.

Maria Caulfield: As set out in the Women’s Health Strategy, we will work with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on its five-year strategy to ensure that guidelines can be implemented and accessible to healthcare professionals and commissioners of local services. NICE’s guidelines describe best practice which healthcare professionals are expected to take fully into account in the care and treatment of patients. However, these guidelines are not mandatory and do not override a clinician’s responsibility to make appropriate decisions for individual patients.NICE reviewed its endometriosis guideline in 2021, which was amended to highlight that those with endometriosis outside the pelvic cavity should be referred to a specialist endometriosis centre. NICE has begun a review of its guidelines on endometriosis to consider whether it should be updated.

Obesity

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on levels of obesity of provisions in Health and Care Act 2022 relating to (a) a pre-watershed television advertising ban and total online advertising ban for less healthy food, (b) the prevention of shops from displaying less healthy food at the entrance, exit and end-of-aisles and (c) a ban on volume price discounts for less healthy food.

Maggie Throup: The Health and Care Act 2022 contains measures to restrict the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online which are expected to reduce the number of obese children by approximately 20,000.Restrictions on the promotion of products high in fat, sugar or salt by volume price and location were made in The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021. The impact assessment shows that over the 25-year appraisal period for the location restrictions, the health benefits expected to accrue due to lower calorie consumption in overweight and obese people are estimated to be £57,600 million, with £2,390 million for volume price promotions. In this period, it is estimated that these measures would provide savings for the National Health Service of £4,364 million in relation to location restrictions and £180 million for volume price promotions.

Food: Labelling

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2022 to Question 27574 on Food: Labelling, what methods he is using to evaluate the impact of the Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021, including on people living with eating disorders; and when he plans to publish the post-implementation review.

Maggie Throup: The post-implementation review will use methods such as structured observations, intercept surveys, national survey analysis and qualitative interviews. The Department is commissioning additional research to ensure that the impact of the Regulations on those with lived experience of eating disorders is considered. The review will be conducted within five years of the implementation of the policy.

Heart Diseases: Health Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to implement a new referral to treatment pathway for patients with severe aortic stenosis.

James Morris: We have no specific plans to do so as there is an existing referral to treatment pathway for patients with severe aortic stenosis. The National Health Service is investing in cardiac networks to support improvements to the care pathway from prevention, diagnosis, treatment and end of life care.We have committed £2.3 billion to launch at least 100 community diagnostic centres by 2024/25, to improve the early detection and diagnosis of heart valve disease in England.Adults requiring an aortic valve replacement will be assessed to determine the appropriate procedure. Treatment usually involves surgical aortic valve replacement or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Cardiac centres have increased the number of TAVI procedures, which have a lower requirement for intensive care beds and a shorter length of stay in hospital.

Gynaecology: Diagnosis

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to allocate funding to diagnostic services for menstrual health.

Maria Caulfield: We are investing £2.3 billion to increase capacity in National Health Service diagnostic services in England. This will support the launch of up to 160 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) by March 2025. These CDCs will offer additional capacity for checks and tests, such as urology tests, ultrasound, and blood tests to support gynaecological patient pathways.Some gynaecological services, such as menstrual health services, are predominantly provided by general practitioners (GPs). We have invested £520 million to improve access to general practitioner capacity, in addition to £1.5 billion to create a further 50 million GP appointments by 2024 to address waiting times for gynaecological services.

Prescription Drugs: Fees and Charges

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to charge private medicinal prescriptions at pharmacies at the same cost to the patient as others.

Maria Caulfield: There are no plans to do so, as the Department has no responsibility for prescribing in the private sector.

Palliative Care

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of palliative and end of life care in the community.

Gillian Keegan: During the pandemic, we have made more than £400 million available to palliative and end of life care providers, including hospices. This included funding for community contacts to provide support to those at the end of life being cared for at home.Palliative and end of life care services are commissioned by integrated care boards to meet the needs of the local population. NHS England has developed seven palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Networks, working with commissioners to implement sustainable commissioning models. This includes the development of service specifications and an investment framework which incorporates community services.

Coronavirus and Influenza: Vaccination

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of narrowing the eligibility criteria for influenza vaccination and the JCVI's advice to reduce the age cohort for the autumn covid-19 booster programme; and whether that change would place increased pressure on NHS capacity during the winter season.

Maggie Throup: On 15 July 2022, the Government provided an update on the COVID-19 autumn booster programme and flu vaccination programme. This included the expansion of the eligibility criteria for flu vaccinations to be offered to all adults aged 50 years old and over and secondary school children in Years 7, 8, and 9 in England. These additional groups will be eligible once the most vulnerable, including previously announced pre-school and primary school children, those aged 65 years old and over and those in clinical risk groups have been offered the vaccination. This expansion aims to reduce the level of serious illness and subsequent pressure on the National Health Service.the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice to offer an autumn booster vaccination to increase immunity in those at higher risk from COVID-19 and protect against severe illness, hospitalisation and death in winter 2022/23. The booster dose will be offered to residents and staff in a care home for older adults; all adults aged 50 years old and over; those aged five to 49 years old in a clinical risk group or who are household contacts of someone with immunosuppression; frontline health and social care workers; and carers aged 16 years old and over. This aims to increase immunity in those at higher risk from COVID-19 and protect against severe illness, hospitalisation and death in winter 2022/23.

Influenza And
Coronavirus: Vaccination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the rollout of (a) winter flu and (b) covid booster vaccinations.

Maggie Throup: On 15 July 2022, the Government provided an update on the COVID-19 autumn booster programme and flu vaccination programme. This included the expansion of the eligibility criteria for flu vaccinations to be offered to all adults aged 50 years old and over and secondary school children in Years 7, 8, and 9 in England. These additional groups will be eligible once the most vulnerable, including previously announced pre-school and primary school children, those aged 65 years old and over and those in clinical risk groups have been offered the vaccination.The Government has accepted the JCVI’s advice to offer an autumn booster vaccination to increase immunity in those at higher risk from COVID-19 and protect against severe illness, hospitalisation and death in winter 2022/23. The booster dose will be offered to residents and staff in a care home for older adults; all adults aged 50 years old and over; those aged five to 49 years old in a clinical risk group or who are household contacts of someone with immunosuppression; frontline health and social care workers; and carers aged 16 years old and over.Further information on the delivery of the programme, including details on the invitations for patient cohorts, will be available in due course.

Hospitals: Staff

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost to NHS hospitals was of using (a) agency staff and (b) bank staff in (i) 2020-21 and (ii) 2021-2022.

Edward Argar: The following table shows the expenditure on bank and agency staff in 2020/21. The information requested for 2021/22 is currently being collated and centrally verified. 2020/21Agency staff£2,436,415,00Bank staff£4,663,858,942

Department for Education

Department for Education: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022; and what the name is of each consultancy contracted.

Will Quince: The department spent the following amounts on consultancy in the respective financial years:2021/22: £6.8 million*2020/21: £8.7 million2019/20: £12.7 million * Unaudited. As a result, this value may change.Within the time and value for money considerations applicable, it has been possible to provide an analysis of the 2021/22 value, by supplier. This analysis is attached.33694_table (pdf, 141.4KB)

Department for Education: Security

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he holds information on the number of times the Secretary of State for Education’s departmental pass was used to enter and exit the Department from 5 July to 7 July 2022 for the Secretary of State who served during that period.

Will Quince: The Secretary of State for Education can enter and exit the department either by use of their departmental security pass to gain access electronically, or if they are afforded VIP access to enter and exit by reception staff.Whilst our electronic records show that they did not use their pass to enter or exit the department, each individual holding the post of Secretary of State that week, including my right hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham, the former Secretary of State for Education, were in their offices within the department during this period.

GCSE: Disadvantaged

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of GCSE exam results achieved by students on free school meals, separated by grade, for each of the last five academic years.

Will Quince: The attached table shows the collective entries for students on free school meals, broken down by GCSE grades, for the last five academic years. Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once. In 2019/20 and 2021/21, only one entry per subject is counted and we count the entry with the highest grade for results received in summer 2022. Previously only the first entry grade would count, and this is still the case for any results received before summer 2021. Double grades refer to GCSE combined science, which was introduced in 2017/18. Therefore, this data is unavailable for 2016/17. By 2019/20 and 2020/21, all GCSEs in England have been reformed and use the new 9 to 1 grading system (rather than A*-G). Grade U refers to pupils' results which are ungraded or unclassified. Grade X refers to pupils who were absent or whose results are pending.GCSE students eligible for free school meals  (pdf, 35.9KB)

Skin Cancer: Health Education

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of (a) melanoma and (b) other skin cancers in schools.

Will Quince: It is important to educate people about the causes and symptoms of cancer and the department is supportive of efforts to do this at an early age. The statutory guidance on relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education includes content on cancer awareness which should be taught in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. At primary school, the guidance covers safe and unsafe exposure to the sun, and how to reduce the risk of sun damage, including skin cancer. At secondary school, the guidance covers knowing the benefits of regular skin self-examination and screening for melanoma and other skin cancers. To support schools, the department published a suite of teacher training modules and non-statutory guidance, including a module on health and prevention, which has a section on sun safety, self-examination and screening, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-health-and-prevention. Schools may also teach about cancer awareness in other areas of the national curriculum. For example, the secondary science curriculum ensures pupils are taught about non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, and the impact of lifestyle factors on the incidence of these diseases.

Department for Education: Written Questions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he will respond to Question 34846 from the Rt. hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury, tabled on 12 July 2022.

Will Quince: I can confirm that a response has been submitted to the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury to Question 34846.

Department for Education: Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many contracts that are worth (a) between £1 million and £3 million and (b) over £3 million their (i) Department and (ii) Department’s agencies and non-departmental public bodies (A) have agreed since 2010 and (B) are due to agree within the next 12 months; how much their Department has spent on monitoring each contract in each year since 2010; and how many officials have been working on that monitoring in each year since 2010.

Will Quince: Details of government contracts from 2016 above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on the GOV.UK Contracts Finder site which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. As Contracts Finder was implemented in 2016, not all records before this time are held centrally.For the July 2022 to June 2023 period, the total anticipated number of contracts for the department only (not including agencies and non-departmental public bodies) worth between £1 and £3 million is currently three. For the same period, the total number of contracts over £3 million is 136. This is the anticipated project pipeline and the department makes no commitment that the annual value of any contract will be as stated, or the timing of any future procurement exercises will be as stated. The sourcing route for any subsequent procurement has not been determined. For example, it could be via frameworks managed by Crown Commercial Services or open competitions. The department cannot therefore guarantee that these opportunities will be available to all suppliers.We do not hold spend data on contract monitoring or how many officials work on monitoring in each year from 2010.

Chemistry: GCE A-level

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with representatives of AQA about grade allocations following the reported leak of A level chemistry paper 2; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The department has not had discussions with representatives of AQA about the alleged leak of material from an A level chemistry paper. While serious exam malpractice remains rare, it is vital that any breach is thoroughly investigated by the exam boards.Exam boards have well established processes in place to manage such incidents. AQA have confirmed that their Exams Integrity team is investigating these reports and they will take any action necessary, including working with the police.While such leaks are very rare, exam boards have demonstrated previously that they are able to effectively gather evidence about the students who had unauthorised access to any questions before the exam was taken. In the event of a leak, Ofqual will work with the exam board to minimise the impact on students.

Free School Meals

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 35936 on Poverty: Children, whether the 9 million most disadvantaged pupils are (a) eligible for and (b) claiming a free school meal.

Will Quince: The number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (FSM) is published in the National Statistics publication ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. The latest published statistics show that in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming FSM.

Free School Meals: Mental Illness

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of students receiving free school meals, who are suffering from a diagnosable mental illness, in each of the last three years.

Will Quince: The department does not hold any information on the number of students receiving free school meals, who are suffering from a diagnosable mental illness.

Pupils: Travellers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the educational attainment of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils.

Will Quince: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. The department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people, and how schools and others can make a positive difference. The department has invested in research into academic progress over the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years with Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute. The department’s data and research consider the impacts on pupils with particular characteristics, as well as considering regional disparities and area-level deprivation.The department knows one of the most significant factors affecting pupil attainment, which cuts across all ethnicities, is economic disadvantage. That is why we have consistently targeted support at the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, with schools continuing to receive additional funding through the pupil premium. Total pupil premium funding will increase to over £2.6 billion this financial year (2022/23), from £2.5 billion last year. On top of this funding, schools serving pupils from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds are likely to attract funding through additional needs factors in the schools national funding formula (NFF), specifically through the mobility factor. The department is also working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and will learn any lessons from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Education Area pilots in a number of areas in England.

GCE A-level: Disadvantaged

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of A level exam results achieved by students on free school meals, separated by grade, for each of the last five academic years.

Will Quince: The table below shows A level entries and results for students aged 16 to 18 at the start of the academic year, and eligible for free school meals, for the last five years. The data corresponds to the number of entries within a single academic year and refers to students in schools and colleges in England. X grades are awarded when there is no result and Q grades are awarded when the result is pending. A level entries and resultsVersionProvisionalProvisionalRevisedRevisedRevisedTime Period2020/212019/202018/192017/182016/17A*4,1702,5281,3161,3531,537A8,3356,1064,3704,1684,548B11,1719,9338,8499,0099,356C10,28910,08110,62910,53110,747D5,2585,0557,8997,4427,827E2,5161,8643,8893,5753,473U5042381,6381,4471,229X3157103201177123Q41615172Total Entries42,41635,92338,79237,70938,842

Department for Education: Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the wage ratio was between the highest paid member of staff in his Department and the lowest in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Will Quince: The department’s wage ratio, based on gross basic salary only, on 1 April each year (the date when any pay award is implemented) is as follows:2020 – 8.0 : 12021 – 7.6 : 12022 – 7.4 : 1

Multi-academy Trusts: Operating Costs

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND review proposals, whether it is his policy that multi-academy trusts will have the ability to use a proportion of SEND funding to cover operational costs.

Will Quince: All school’s core budgets include a notional budget for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), calculated by the school's local authority. These budgets give a non-binding indication to schools on how much of their funding they should consider spending on SEND provision.Schools are responsible for managing their whole budgets to meet the needs of all their pupils, including those with SEND. Multi-academy trusts have the flexibility to manage budgets across all their academies, to ensure that they can fulfil their crucial role in promoting school improvement; that includes ensuring that all their pupils with SEND receive the education and support they need.Where in future, as a result of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, there is any change to schools’ responsibilities in respect of children with SEND, we will consult upon and make appropriate adjustments to the funding system, to reflect those changes. The Green Paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. We are also currently consulting on changes that will need to be made to the funding system, including in respect of SEND, to deliver our plans that all mainstream schools are funded directly through the national funding formula.

Schools: Coronavirus and Influenza

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government announcement of 15 July 2022 that over-50s will be offered a flu jab and covid-19 booster this autumn, whether he has made any representations to the (a) UK Health Security Agency, (b) Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and (c) Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of prioritising school staff for vaccination.

Will Quince: Identifying priority groups for vaccinations are clinical decisions taken by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), informed by advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI). JCVI advised that the primary objective of the 2022 autumn booster programme is to augment immunity in those at higher risk from COVID-19 and thereby optimise protection against severe COVID-19, specifically hospitalisation and death, over winter 2022 to 2023. Other school staff are currently not eligible to receive an autumn booster as part of this programme. However, staff who meet the central eligibility criteria are entitled to a free flu vaccination through the NHS, and schools can choose to provide flu vaccines for their staff through their occupational health services.

Special Educational Needs: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in Ipswich constituency are waiting for special school places.

Will Quince: The department does not collect data on how many children are waiting for school places on a constituency basis. However, each January, the department collects data from local authorities, covering the number of children and young people and the type of provision attended. This includes mainstream schools, special schools, alternative provision, pupils educated elsewhere, and those awaiting provision.The most recent return shows that in January 2022, there were 1,503 children of compulsory school age across England with education, health and care (EHC) plans who were not in education and awaiting provision. This is up from 1,460 in January 2021. In Suffolk, in January 2022, there were 36 children of compulsory school age with EHC plans not in education and awaiting provision, up from 26 in January 2021.The department does not collect data about the specific circumstances of the children awaiting provision. The department knows that this category includes children and young people in a wide range of circumstances, including some who are in an education setting, but awaiting provision in another setting (including those currently attending a mainstream school who are to move to a special school), and some who have only recently moved into the area. The local authority keeps its special school place provision under continual review and has detailed plans for increasing the number of good places available in Ipswich and across Suffolk.To support these plans, the department collaborates with Suffolk local authority on helping all schools in the county to continually improve their whole-school special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) approach, including ensuring that academies fulfil their obligations to pupils with SEND. While statutory responsibility for providing SEND places rests with Suffolk local authority, the department actively supports the local authority to secure sufficient, good quality SEND places in Suffolk, including in Ipswich.

Educational Visits: Finance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding to schools for school trips and residential visits during the cost of living crisis.

Will Quince: Schools have the flexibility to make their own decisions on how to prioritise their spending to invest in a range of resources and activities that will best support their staff and pupils, which may include school trips and residential visits. There is no specific funding allocation provided to schools for the purpose of school trips or residential visits. Any costs incurred by the school must be funded from their own budget.The department continues to monitor schools’ financial health and we recognise that schools are facing cost pressures. This government continues to deliver year on year increases to school funding, with the total core school budget increasing to £56.8 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. This is a £7 billion cash increase compared with the 2021/22 financial year.Increases in funding have been frontloaded to rapidly get money to schools, so that in the 2022/23 financial year alone, core schools funding is increasing by £4 billion compared to the 2021/22 financial year. This means that the total funding allocated to schools is seeing a 7% cash terms per pupil boost in the 2022/23 financial year, compared to the 2021/22 financial year, helping schools to meet the cost pressures that we know they are facing.

Special Educational Needs: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of places in special schools for children with SEND in Ipswich constituency.

Will Quince: Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient good school places for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Children and Families Act 2014, requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review, including its sufficiency, working with parents, young people, and providers.There are currently six special schools within Ipswich, providing 368 places to children up to the age of 16 with SEND, including social, emotional, and mental health needs and specific learning difficulties. Two of the six schools, The Bridge School and Sir Bobby Robson School, are yet to be inspected by Ofsted. Two schools, Thomas Wolsey Ormiston Academy and Stone Lodge Academy, are rated Good. The other two schools, West Lodge School and New Skill Centre, are rated Requires Improvement.The department continues to support Suffolk local authority and academy trusts with special schools in Ipswich in a range of ways, to help their efforts with providing sufficient good special school places for children with SEND in Ipswich.

Students: Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much on a per student basis universities will receive through the new funding commitment of £3 million provided for student mental health.

Andrea Jenkyns: Supporting the mental health of students requires collaboration between higher education (HE) providers and the NHS. The Office for Students (OfS) will distribute £15 million to HE providers over the 2022/23 academic year to provide students with additional mental health support. £3 million of this will be used to build on the existing work of the Student Mental Health Partnerships project and establish, on a regional basis, new partnerships between HE and NHS providers. This is in addition to the £33 million direct funding NHS England is providing in the 2022/23 financial year to improve the quality of mental health services for young adults. As the OfS funding is being made available to support regional projects, it is not meaningful to calculate this funding on a per student basis.

Schools: Bus Services

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting parents and carers with the rising cost of school bus transportation in the context of the increase in fuel prices.

Will Quince: The department’s home-to-school transport policy aims to ensure that no child is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local authorities must provide free transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, because of their special educational needs or disability, or because the route is unsafe. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice. More detail is outlined in the home-to-school travel and transport guidance. This is available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance.The department does not have plans for specific additional support for families with the cost of school buses.

Further Education: Staff

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer to Question 900784 in Prime Minister's Questions on 29 June 2022, Official Report, col 291, if he will publish a breakdown of the planned allocation of the £52m being invested to support the staffing situation in further education.

Andrea Jenkyns: The department’s £52 million investment in the 2022/23 financial year will allow us to continue to support the further education (FE) sector with the recruitment, retention and development of teachers. The programmes allocated funding from this investment include Taking Teaching Further, T Level Professional Development, bursaries, mentoring support, and the Teach in FE recruitment campaign and digital service.

GCSE: Assessments

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department made of the average number of examination papers taken by each student as part of the GCSE syllabuses.

Will Quince: The department does not collect data on the average number of GCSE examination papers taken by students. The average number of GCSE qualifications per student in 2021 was 7.85. The number of examination papers per GCSE varies across subjects.

School Meals: Prices

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the average price paid for a school lunch in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority in England for each of the last five years for which data is available.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) state schools and (b) local authorities that plan to increase the price of school lunches for the 2022-23 academic year.

Will Quince: The department does not collect or hold any data on this, including on any planned increases. School governing boards are responsible for the provision of both free and paid for meals and it is for them to decide on the price, depending on local circumstances.

Schools: Weather

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had recent discussions with schools leadership on student and teacher wellbeing during extreme heat in the UK.

Will Quince: The department regularly meets with school leaders and their representative bodies to discuss issues impacting on the school workforce and pupils, this includes their wellbeing.There is clear guidance on looking after children and those in early years settings during heatwaves, including the use of ventilation, keeping children hydrated, and avoiding vigorous physical activity. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heatwave-plan-for-england/looking-after-children-and-those-in-early-years-settings-during-heatwaves-for-teachers-and-professionals. Ahead of the extreme heat forecast for 18 and 19 July, the department wrote to education and childcare settings to remind them of the guidance and their responsibilities.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he will respond to the correspondence of 23 May 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire on remote learning, reference ZA59785.

Will Quince: I can confirm that a response has been sent to the hon. Member for West Lancashire on 19 July 2022.

School Rebuilding Programme: South West

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason only four schools of the 161 in the Schools Rebuilding Programme were located in the South West.

Will Quince: Schools selected have been prioritised based on the condition of their buildings. Location was not a factor in the prioritisation process. The department will select up to 300 schools in 2022 for the programme from the 1,105 nominations received from local authorities, academy trusts, and dioceses. We announced 61 of the 300 schools in July to maintain the pace of delivery and begin to address some of the schools in the poorest conditions. The department is still assessing all of the other nominations received, including those which showed evidence of exceptional need. The 100 schools selected in February and July 2021 were also prioritised based on condition. An explanation of the methodology for each round is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme.

Students: Loans

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on the mental health of students of the 11 per cent real-terms reduction to the student maintenance support loan by 2022-23.

Andrea Jenkyns: Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous bodies independent from government and they have a responsibility to support students with mental health conditions, defined as a disability. As experts in their student population, HE providers are best placed to identify specific needs of their students. The department considers changes to support arrangements for students in HE on an annual basis. Maximum grants and loans for living costs were increased by 3.1% this academic year, and the department has announced that they will increase by a further 2.3% in the 2022/23 academic year. As part of a package to support households with the rising cost of energy bills, the government is giving a council tax rebate payment of £150 to households that were living in a property in council tax bands A to D as their main home on 1 April 2022. This includes full-time students that do not live in student halls. In addition, we are making available discretionary funding of £144 million to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes, including students, to support those who do not pay council tax. Each council is responsible for the design of their discretionary support scheme and will publish further details on their website. Many HE providers have hardship funds that students can apply for. Assistance and budgeting advice is available from HE providers themselves as well as from online sources such as Student Space and the Money Advice Service.

Universities: Admissions

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the number of university applicants from deprived areas.

Andrea Jenkyns: Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to access a world-class education remains a top priority and the department expects universities to do all they can to support disadvantaged students. Record numbers of high achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds progressed into higher education (HE) last year and we want this progress to continue. While there has been a strong focus on ensuring more disadvantaged students get into HE, there has not always been as much consideration of the value of the courses they are admitted to. We want to ensure that courses are of genuinely high quality, with support for students to both complete their studies and develop the skills and knowledge that will lead to rewarding graduate employment or further study. In November 2021, we tasked the Office for Students (OfS) with creating an access and participation regime that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring they are equipped to make informed choices and are able to access and succeed on high-quality courses which lead to good graduate employment. We have appointed John Blake as Director for Fair Access and Participation at the OfS and he is playing a pivotal role in driving this work forward. We have recently consulted on the design of a new National State Scholarship, worth up to £75 million, which will help the highest achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds overcome barriers to attending and succeeding on the HE course that is right for them.

Adoption and Children in Care: Education

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Adoption Barometer Report entitled a stocktake of adoption in the UK, published June 2022, what assessment he has made for the implications of his policies of (a) the finding that 68 per cent of established adoptive families struggle to get the support their children need in education and (b) the report’s recommendation that all educational professionals be trained and resourced to understand the specific needs of care experienced children and young people in an educational setting.

Brendan Clarke-Smith: The department recognises the findings in the Adoption Barometer Report that children adopted from care may need additional support in education. The experiences and barriers that looked-after children face do not disappear when they leave care through adoption, Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Orders, which can mean they experience poorer outcomes than children who have never been in care. That is why all local authorities in England are required to appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of previously looked-after children. This gives schools, parents, and guardians access to Virtual School Head expert advice on supporting the educational needs of previously looked-after children, including on how best to use Pupil Premium Plus funding to support them. All maintained schools and academies must also appoint a designated teacher, who should be the central point of contact for parents or guardians about their child’s progress at school. The designated teacher has a leadership role in promoting the educational achievement of every looked-after and previously looked-after child on the school’s roll, which involves ensuring the personalised learning needs of every looked-after and previously looked-after child matter and their personal, emotional, and academic needs are prioritised. This includes understanding the impact that pre-care and care adverse experiences can have on looked-after and previously looked-after children and how to access further support where necessary.

Young People: Unemployment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of Adoption UK’s Adoption Barometer Report 2022 on the proportion of 16 to 25 year olds who were not in education, employment, or training at the end of 2021; and what plans he has to increase the impact of the Pupil Premium Plus funding on the outcomes of previously looked after children.

Brendan Clarke-Smith: At the end of 2021, 10.5% of 16 to 24-year-olds were not in education, employment or training (NEET). This is the lowest percentage on record. Local authorities have a statutory duty to identify and support young people who are NEET. Under the September Guarantee, all 16 and 17-year-olds are entitled to an offer of a suitable place in education or training, regardless of qualifications gained.A range of provision is available for young people aged 16 to 24 to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress. The government’s Plan for Jobs includes a range of joined-up support to young people to help minimise time spent NEET, such as Youth Hubs and traineeships. These prepare young people for apprenticeships and work. Additionally, supported internships, which offer tailored support for young people with special education needs and disabilities.Previously looked-after children attract pupil premium plus funding, or £2,410 per child per year in 2022/23, which is managed by the child’s school. The ‘Using Pupil Premium’ guidance supports school leaders to use their funding effectively and explains that schools must ensure they consider the specific needs of previously looked-after children. There is also statutory guidance for designated teachers that includes information on both the use and management of the funding. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-teacher-for-looked-after-children.

Pupil Exclusions: Travellers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the factors that contribute to school exclusion rates of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils.

Brendan Clarke-Smith: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.The department has conducted several analyses into disparities in exclusion rates. The Timpson Review of School Exclusions (2019) illustrated that there is no substantial difference in permanent exclusion rates when comparing all ethnic minority children as a whole with white British children.The Timpson Review also found that Gypsy and Roma pupils and Irish Traveller boys are more likely to be suspended than their white British peers, even when other factors are controlled for, such as poverty, special educational needs and absence. The Timpson Review noted that the impact of in and out-of-school factors will differ for each child and local context means there will be different patterns across the country.The department’s updated Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance, published 13 July 2022, sets out that schools, local authorities, and local partners should work together to understand what lies behind local trends. Local leaders should use this understanding to plan and put in place additional and targeted actions based on their own context. If they identify any gaps, they should act to ensure those who work with children have the training, services and support they need to address them.

Pupil Premium: Adoption

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if Pupil Premium Plus will be made available for those children adopted from overseas from October 2022.

Brendan Clarke-Smith: Currently, children adopted from outside England and Wales do not get pupil premium plus.The department is aware of this issue and is exploring the possibility of extending pupil premium plus to these children and will be including them in the school census from the 2022/23 academic year. In the meantime, schools should support the needs of all pupils, regardless of whether they are eligible to attract pupil premium plus, as support is not contingent on receipt of this funding.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Afghanistan: Disaster Relief

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of the £2.5 million pledged to Afghanistan following the earthquake of 21 June 2022 has been delivered.

Graham Stuart: The UK was one of the first donors to offer its support in response to the earthquake that struck Afghanistan on 22 June, disbursing £2.5 million in full to the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Red Cross to provide life-saving shelter, medication, water and sanitation assistance to affected communities.

Afghanistan: Diplomatic Relations

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on re-opening diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to evaluate the feasibility of re-opening the British embassy in Afghanistan.

Graham Stuart: The British Embassy in Kabul has suspended operations. The UK Mission to Afghanistan based in Doha is leading our diplomatic, security and humanitarian engagement. We intend to establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul as soon as the security and political situation in the country allows and are coordinating this effort with allies.

Afghanistan: Visits Abroad

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have to visit Afghanistan in the next twelve months.

Graham Stuart: Neither the Foreign Secretary, nor any other Minister, has any plans to travel to Afghanistan. As with other G7 countries, our engagement with the Taliban is conducted by officials, not by Ministers.

Afghanistan: Embassies

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British Embassy staff are currently in Afghanistan.

Graham Stuart: The UK Government continues to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan. We are aware of a small number of former British Embassy staff who remain in Afghanistan. We continue to do all that we can to enable those who are eligible to relocate to the UK.

Development Aid: Health Services

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of UK ODA her Department has allocated to sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes in 2022-23.

Amanda Milling: As set out in the International Development Strategy, the Foreign Secretary has said the UK Government intends to restore bilateral funding for women and girls, which includes programmes focused on universal, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is working to complete its business and country planning process as soon as possible, which will allow us to finalise budget allocations, taking account of our Spending Review settlement. We cannot comment on funding allocations until this is finalised.

Africa and Middle East: Overseas Workers

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people from her Department were working in (a) the Middle East and (b) Africa in each year since 2010.

Amanda Milling: FCDO UK Based Staff Working Overseas HeadcountLocationsMar-14Mar-15Mar-16Mar-17Mar-18Mar-19Mar-20Mar-21Mar-22Africa540-559540-559500-519500-519520-539540-559560-579580-599560-579Middle East140-159140-159180-199200-219240-259260-279220-239180-199180-199

Sri Lanka: Economic Situation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking with its international counterparts to resolve the political and economic situation in Sri Lanka.

Amanda Milling: The UK Government are encouraging all sides to find a peaceful, democratic, and inclusive approach to resolving the current political and economic challenges in Sri Lanka. We are closely monitoring the fast-moving situation, including the recent appointment of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as President. We call on all parties to respect the rule of law, and refrain from violence and damage.The UK is providing economic support through multilateral institutions such as the World Bank (WB), and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The UK has the joint fifth largest shares in the IMF, and is a major contributor to the UN and WB. The World Bank have announced assistance of US$400 million which includes funds to provide economic as well as health support.The UK has a significant voice in international debt fora. We are working closely with fellow Paris Club members and multilateral organisations, including the World Bank, on solutions to Sri Lanka's debt crisis. We are also supporting the UN and its agencies in their coordinated response based on the UN's joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) Plan, launched on 9 June. This called for $47.2 million to provide life-saving assistance to 1.7 million people who are most at risk and need immediate support.

Bangladesh: Genito-urinary Medicine

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that women have access to safe gynaecological care in Bangladesh.

Amanda Milling: The UK is a leading development partner in Bangladesh. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) 'Better Health in Bangladesh Programme' provides financial and technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh's national health sector programme. The programme helps to ensure that women have access to safe gynaecological care in Bangladesh through interventions including cervical cancer screening, post abortion care, midwifery training and technical assistance to strengthen Bangladesh's health system. It also aims to strengthen the Bangladeshi health system, including combatting issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and ending preventable deaths of mothers and new-borns. In targeted districts of Bangladesh, the FCDO tests new methods of cervical cancer screening and treatment, and provides basic emergency obstetric care. The UK's technical health assistance has also resulted in new midwifery training programmes in Bangladesh. The FCDO's £12.29 million midwifery programme has supported the training of 8,475 midwives, of which, 2,557 have been deployed in public primary health care facilities over the last five years. These midwives have assisted over 300,000 natural births, and served almost one million family planning users through post-partum and post abortion care.

Jagtar Singh Johal

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she last made representations to her Indian counterpart on the case of Jagtar Singh Johal.

Amanda Milling: The British Government has consistently raised its concerns about Mr Johal's case with the Government of India, including his allegations of torture and mistreatment and his right to a fair trial. The Prime Minister raised the case with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they met in Delhi on 22 April 2022. The Foreign Secretary raised Mr Johal's detention with India's Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, when they met in Delhi on 31 March 2022. The Foreign Secretary met Mr Johal's family and MP on 9 June 2022. Ministers and officials have raised Mr Johal's case on almost 100 occasions and will continue to do so.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Aviation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much their Department has spent on air travel for (a) Ministers and (b) officials in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

Amanda Milling: Details of ministerial commercial travel is published quarterly on gov.uk. Please see the link below for the FCDO return. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fcdo-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings#full-publication-update-historyThe latest data was published on 14 July with an accompanying Written Ministerial Statement made in both Houses of Parliament on 15 July:https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-07-15/debates/2207152000007/GovernmentTransparencyAndAccountability#Air travel costs for officials in financial year 2020-21 was £3.9m and for financial year 2021-22 was £7.4m. These figures are taken from the FCDO's financial systems and should exclude travel incurred by Ministers, and any non-air travel costs. These figures are for flights taken as part of duty travel; travel taken as part of staff members' overseas allowance packages are excluded as these costs are not split on the system between air travel and other types of travel.

FSO Safer

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential risk of a major oil spill from the FSO Safer supertanker in the Red Sea.

Amanda Milling: FSO SAFER represents an extremely dangerous environmental risk, brought to international attention by UK-funded research that identified the threat posed by the tanker.The UK has provided technical support to the UN's risk assessments of the SAFER salvage mission, with the most recent risk assessment taking place on 27 February 2022. On 18 July, the UK pledged a further £2 million to the UN SAFER plan to salvage the ship and its oil, removing the risk of spillage and environmental damage - taking our total pledge to £6 million.We are also working with the UN to put in place detailed contingency plans in the event a spill occurs. We are coordinating with our partners to press the Houthis to facilitate the UN's vital work.

Ministry of Defence

UK Space Command: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the annual budget for UK Space Command in each year until 2030.

Jeremy Quin: The Defence Command Plan set out that we would spend an additional £1.4 billion on space over the next ten years. The Department does not routinely publicise forecast or breakdowns of future spend, however previous years spend will be captured and published in the Annual Report and Accounts.

Agnes Wanjiru

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the case of the death of Agnes Wanjiru has been a barrier to the final ratification of the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the UK and Kenya.

James Heappey: After engagement with the Kenyan Government, and the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee of the Kenyan Parliament, the ratification treaty was tabled on 13 July 2022. That session of the Kenyan Parliament was subsequently cancelled. The existing Defence Cooperation Agreement remains in place in the meantime.

Military Operations: Safety

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cattle were accidentally killed by military operations in 2021-22.

James Heappey: This information is not held by the Ministry of Defence, and we have had no claims for compensation for cattle accidentally killed as a result of military operations in 2021-22.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to progress the delivery of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

James Heappey: The Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) is one of the most generous relocation programmes in the world, and to date we have relocated more than 10,100 eligible individuals and their families to safety in the UK under ARAP. We have received a very high number of ARAP applications, the vast majority of which are from individuals who are not eligible. However, we continue to be focused on identifying those who are eligible and in need of our support and will be increasing the resources dedicated to this. We continue to work closely with other Government Departments and international partners to support moves of eligible persons out of Afghanistan and on to the UK. The Ministry of Defence also continues to work with our colleagues across Government to make sure that the Afghans arriving in the UK who have served alongside our Armed Forces over the last twenty years, are given the warmest of welcomes. The effective operation of the scheme is kept under regular review within the Department, and it remains a priority for Defence and Her Majestys's Government.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of unemployed Universal Credit and Job Seeker's Allowance claimants who moved into work between 31 January and 26 June 2022 (a) in total and (b) through the Way to Work campaign.

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Half a million benefit claimants get jobs in under 6 months, dated 30 June 2022, if she will publish the analysis her Department used to determine that it had delivered on its target to get 500,000 more people into work in less than six months.

Julie Marson: On 26 January 2022, the Government launched the Way to Work campaign to move 500,000 job-ready claimants into work by the end of June 2022. Using the strength of the jobs market and building on the success of Kickstart, the campaign saw us working closely with employers to help claimants into jobs quicker, whilst strengthening our core support for jobseekers. Due to the nature of the campaign, the total number of unemployed Universal Credit and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants who moved into work during the campaign period is the same as the number who moved into work through the Way to Work campaign. As of 25 July, we estimate that 523,500 unemployed Universal Credit claimants and JSA claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and 26 June 2022.This total figure is composed of our into work measure to 26 June for Universal Credit claimants (484,300) and the equivalent information for JSA claimants (39,200). We have included those claimants with a sanction in place that moved into work during the period of the campaign up to 26 June (25,600). Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency and timeliness. A description of the data used to show that it had achieved this target has been published previously – most recently in the following response found here.

Adoption: Self-employed

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the (a) impact of not extending statutory maternity allowance to self-employed adopters on parents' ability to take time off work to bond with their newly adopted child and (b) subsequent impact that has on (i) parents and (ii) children.

Guy Opperman: Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Maternity Allowance (MA) are primarily health and safety provisions relating specifically to pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. They provide a measure of financial security to help women who have worked during or close to their pregnancies to stop working towards the end of their pregnancy and in the months after childbirth, in the interests of their own and their babies' health and wellbeing. As there is no associated period of pregnancy for adopters, it is not appropriate that they are able to make a claim for either SMP or MA regardless of their employment status.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fossil Fuels: Exploration

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Shell's proposal to commence seismic blasting on the Wild Coast of South Africa on (a) whales and (b) other marine life in that area.

Steve Double: The issue of seismic exploration off the east coast of South Africa is before the judiciary in South Africa. The UK will continue to track developments.

Volatile Organic Compounds

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has any plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the use of volatile organic compounds in (a) paints and (b) other coatings.

Steve Double: The UK is currently meeting, and on track to meet, the 2030 statutory emissions ceilings for volatile organic compounds. We are not considering legislative changes at this stage.

Avian Influenza

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of bird flu have been found in the UK as of 19 July 2022.

Steve Double: As of 19 July 2022, 125 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 have been confirmed in poultry and other captive birds in the UK (103 cases in England, 5 cases in Wales, 11 cases in Scotland, 6 cases in Northern Ireland). In addition, through the Animal and Plant Health Agencies wild bird surveillance scheme as of 19 July 2022, there have been 1422 findings of avian influenza in wild birds, in 343 locations involving 61 bird species in 78 counties. This includes carcases collected and submitted to APHA for testing up to the 8 July 2022. Findings of avian influenza in wild birds have predominantly been of the HPAI H5N1 strain with a single finding of HPAI H5N8. We have a robust response in place in line with international best practice and continue to work with stakeholders to keep up to date with the latest evidence and any further steps that we can take. Further details of findings of HPAI in wild birds and details of confirmed cases in poultry and other captive birds are published on GOV.UK/bird-flu.

Litter: Coastal Areas

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect coastal areas from litter.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce littering offences and (b) protect coastal areas from litter.

Steve Double: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 July 2022 to PQ 38548.

Electronic Cigarettes: Waste

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department (a) has made an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes and (b) plans to introduce recycling schemes designed to reduce the amount of electrical waste produced by those products.

Steve Double: The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes in the UK. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations place obligations on producers of electrical products to finance the collection and treatment of those products when they become waste. This would include disposable vapes. At present, consumers are able to dispose of their electrical waste at a local household recycling centre or via retailer take back channels, where these are available. Cigarette butts are one of the most frequently littered items. In a recent survey commissioned by Defra, they accounted for 66% of the total number of litter items collected.

Urban Areas: Water Supply

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the supply and provision of drinking water for people in town and city centres during periods of extreme heat.

Steve Double: Water companies in England are reporting that water storage levels are adequate for water supply this summer, including for the supply of drinking water in towns and cities. Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of wholesome water at all times, in particular for essential uses, such as the provision of drinking water. Water companies are legally required to have robust plans in place to maintain the supply of water in a range of hazards, including heatwaves. Water companies use a range of measures to manage higher water demand expected during heatwaves and respond to any disruption. These measures include ensuring their networks are prepared, customer communications to help manage demand, re-routing of water via their networks, and the provision of alternative water supplies, for example via tanker deliveries. In the event of disruptions, water companies also maintain priority access registers, which vulnerable customers can register with for provision of bottled water. The Government is communicating frequently with water companies to monitor their performance and re-iterate the importance of maintaining supplies to customers. Water companies also support the Refill campaign, a scheme which makes it easier for people to find places to refill water bottles, wherever they are, shops, businesses, fountains and transport hubs, for free.

Lighting: Pollution Control

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of his Department's policies for reducing light pollution.

Steve Double: We take a broad approach to tackling all impacts on biodiversity, such as artificial light, and have indicators set out through the 25 Year Environment Plan reporting mechanisms which assess the effectiveness of this wider work towards nature recovery.

Electronic Training Aids

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains his Department's policy to ban hand-held remote controlled e-collar devices following the 2018 review of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which recommended a ban on those devices.

Steve Double: The proposed ban on the use of electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices was developed after considering a broad range of factors, including the effects of such a ban. When considered alongside the academic research, the public consultation responses, and direct engagement with the sector, the Government concluded that these devices present a risk to the welfare of dogs and cats and that their use should be prohibited. We continue to work closely with the animal welfare sector, enforcement agencies and Governments across the four nations on this ban, which will be made via secondary legislation under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The legislation needed to ban electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices in England will be laid before Parliament as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Weather

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure the UK was adequately prepared for the level 4 alert issued for 18 and 19 July 2022 under the Heatwave Plan for England.

Steve Double: Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a continuous supply of wholesome water. They are legally required to have robust plans in place to maintain the supply of water in a range of hazards, including heatwaves. Water companies use a range of measures to manage higher water demand expected during heatwaves and respond to any disruption. These measures include ensuring their networks are prepared, customer communications to help manage demand, re-routing of water via their networks, and the provision of alternative water supplies, for example via tanker deliveries. In the event of disruptions, water companies also maintain priority access registers, which vulnerable customers can register with for provision of bottled water. We issued reminders to animal owners that it is their responsibility to have plans in place to ensure their animals' welfare in extreme weather. This included publishing content on protecting companion animals in hot weather, and direct messaging from the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Animal and Plant Health Agency focused on transporting livestock and horses. Comprehensive guidance is available online at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/keeping-farm-animals-and-horses-in-extreme-weather on protecting animals in hot weather, including advice on checking on animals more regularly, ensuring all animals have easy access to water on a daily basis, and not transporting animals in temperatures over 30 degrees. The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, built on supply from diverse sources including strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes ensuring that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Defra has well-established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. We continue to keep the extreme weather situation under close review, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which Defra and the Devolved Administrations set up to monitor the UK market situation across all key agricultural commodities. We have also increased engagement with the industry to supplement Government analysis with real-time intelligence. This provides the Government with the best possible intelligence on how the sector is performing. Given the health threat and the impacts observed in summer 2021, additional work has been taken forward by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department of Health and Social Care to raise awareness of the health consequences of hot weather and enable professionals, organisations and individuals to plan, mitigate and respond to hot weather episodes effectively. These include: Updating the materials related to hot weather risks on the Heatwave Plan for England collection page. These provide sector specific guidance on actions to take during a heatwave to safeguard patients and service users.Publishing the 2022 Heatwave communications toolkit and social media assets which have been shared with UKHSA regional communications, cross-government partners and local government to support consistent and clear messaging on heat-health.Holding a Heatwave and Summer Preparedness Stakeholder event in April 2022 to around 1000 participants across the health and social care sector and other Government departments to allow them to take early mitigating action.The Extreme Heat National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS) warnings, operated by the Met Office, are intended to warn the public and emergency responders and include the impacts of severe heat outside of the health sector. An Extreme Heat NSWWS will only be issued should a severe or prolonged hot weather episode be forecast.Ensuring all Local Resilience Forums have the guidance, sector specific action sheets and related resources from the Heatwave Plan for England before summer to allow time for incorporation into their wider planning for summer 2022.UKHSA weekly situational awareness meetings with the Met Office feeding into the cross-government Summer Resilience Network, chaired by the Cabinet Office to ensure awareness and a wider system response across the Government.

Tree Planting

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of trees that have been planted through Government-funded schemes in each year since 2019.

Steve Double: The Forestry Commission produces statistics on all new planting of woodland for the UK. These can be found in Forestry Statistics and in Provisional Woodland Statistics: 2021 edition on the Forest Research website. These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares. The latest available figures are for 2021-22.

Sewage: Waste Disposal

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment on the potential impact of sewage discharged in areas at risk of drought.

Steve Double: There are currently nine Environment Agency (EA) operational areas (Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Thames, Wessex, East Midlands, Solent and South Downs, and Devon and Cornwall) that are experiencing prolonged dry weather, which is the early stage of drought. The EA has provided advice to water companies to reduce the potential impact of this on wastewater treatment as well as any potential use of sewage overflows, should there be any imminent heavy rainfall.

Rivers

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions he and Ministers from his Department have visited chalk streams since 1 April 2022.

Steve Double: Several present and former Defra ministers are lucky to have globally rare chalk streams in their constituencies and visit them regularly. I intend to visit a chalk stream at my earliest opportunity following recess.

Incinerators: Recycling

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) reduce incineration and (b) promote recycling.

Steve Double: Through both our Resources & Waste Strategy and landmark Environment Act, we will transform our waste system. We recently consulted on a statutory target, required under the Environment Act 2021, to cut residual waste (excluding major mineral waste) per person by 50% by 2042. It is proposed that this will be measured as a reduction from 2019 levels, estimated to be approximately 560 kg per capita. To meet this target we will drive down the amount of waste we produce, that sent for disposal and recovery (including incineration), and encourage re-use and recycling To promote recycling, we are introducing consistent recycling collections across England, creating a deposit return scheme for drinks containers and introducing extended producer responsibility for packaging to ensure that packaging producers cover the cost of recycling and disposing of their packaging. These reforms will reduce confusion around recycling, provide higher quality recyclate for reprocessors, increase recycling rates and reduce unnecessary and difficult-to-recycle packaging. Through these measures, our ambition is to reach a municipal waste recycling rate of 65% by 2035.

Air Pollution: Weather

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the July 2022 heatwave on air quality around (a) schools and (b) care homes.

Steve Double: Defra provides a five-day air pollution forecast and health advice in the form of recommended actions that could be taken according to current air pollution levels. The annual 'Air Pollution in the UK' report provides information and assessment of significant periods of air pollution across the UK. The report covering the 2022 heatwave period and any associated air pollution episode will be published in September 2023.

Beverage Containers: Recycling

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the kerbside recycling rate of drinks (a) bottles and (b) cans in England in each of the last three years.

Steve Double: We estimate that the average recycling rate is 70.0% for bottles, 70.6% for steel cans, and 70.5% aluminium cans for 2020-23.

Home Office

Passports: Applications

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of applications for British passports that have been (a) replacements for existing passports and (b) applications for first time passports over the last 12 months.

Kevin Foster: Applications for a first passport typically represent 10-15% of the passport applications processed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office.Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to ten weeks when applying for their British passport from the UK. This includes all application types, including first time applications. Across the first 6 months of 2022 HMPO processed 97.7% of UK standard applications within 10 weeks.

Passports: Applications

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to (a) ensure that all passport application systems align, (b) enable a faster roll out of Digital Application Processing to (i) help support the clearing of the passport application backlog and (ii) ease the transition from the Application Management System; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: We have already transitioned 75-85% of applications to the new digital application processing service. We will continue to transition the remaining applications gradually as new capability is developed and business changes can be implemented.The ability to work across two stable systems has enabled us to process record numbers of applications during this period of exceptionally high demand.

HM Passport Office: Teleperformance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what monitoring her Department is undertaking in respect of the contract with Teleperformance to handle HM Passport Office enquiries; what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the delivery of the terms of that contract; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: The service provided by Teleperformance is monitored daily to a pre-defined Service Level Agreement. In light of Teleperformance’s delivery not meeting the required standard earlier this year, they have been responding to a formal rectification plan. The service has significantly improved in response. Weekly meetings have been held between Her Majesty’s Passport Office and Teleperformance’s CEO, where technical innovation to support the rectification has been discussed and subsequently implemented.

Fires

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the potential number of wildfires in 2022; and what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of summer heatwaves on that estimate.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has for (a) preventing and (b) tackling wildfires during heatwaves.

Miss Sarah Dines: 38594: The Home Office has been working closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to provide monitoring and reporting of wildfires during this unprecedented heat. 38595: A coordinated multi-agency approach is essential in the prevention and tackling of wildfires. This includes government departments such as Defra, Cabinet Office, Met Office and DLUHC. As of 0700 21st July, according to NFCC data, Fire and Rescue Services have responded to 462 wildfire incidents in England and Wales in 2022. These were incidents that met the national thresholds for reporting. We anticipate further wildfire incidents to occur this year as the warm dry weather continues. At a local level – each Fire and Rescue Authority is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area (including wildfires) through their Integrated Risk Management Plan. This will include plans to prevent and respond to incidents and Fire and Rescue Services will have regard in their planning to other key local responders including landowners and other emergency services.

Undocumented Migrants: Dover Port

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the (a) value and (b) length of the contracts Border Force holds with (i) MITIE, (ii) Interforce and (iii) Definitive PSA in connection with the processing of undocumented migrants arriving in the Port of Dover.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has a number of arrangements in place to provide security, and custodial staff at the Port of Dover, and at its site in Manston.These arrangements include the pre-existing Escorting and Related Services Contract with Mite Care and Custody, a contract with Management & Training Corporation (UK) Ltd, and a contract with Bloom Procurement Services who contracts with Definitive PSA Ltd (trading as Interforce) to deliver services for the Department.Providing number of staff based at Dover and Manston, would reveal information on the security of our borders. It is not possible to provide the level of detail requested on volumes and patterns without impacting national security.

Undocumented Migrants: Dover Port and Manston Airport

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the private security companies (a) contracted or (b) sub-contracted to process undocumented migrants in (i) the Port of Dover and (ii) Manston Airport.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has a number of arrangements in place to provide security, and custodial staff at the Port of Dover, and at its site in Manston.These arrangements include the pre-existing Escorting and Related Services Contract with Mite Care and Custody, a contract with Management & Training Corporation (UK) Ltd, and a contract with Bloom Procurement Services who contracts with Definitive PSA Ltd (trading as Interforce) to deliver services for the Department.Providing number of staff based at Dover and Manston, would reveal information on the security of our borders. It is not possible to provide the level of detail requested on volumes and patterns without impacting national security

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Scotfield Group: Leeds

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had discussions with Scotfield Ltd about unsafe cladding at the Gateway Building in Leeds.

Mr Marcus Jones: The department has not held discussions with Scotfield Ltd about unsafe cladding at The Gateway Building in Leeds. The Government is providing £5.1 billion, including £4.5 billion from the Building Safety Fund, to address the fire safety risks caused by unsafe cladding on high-rise residential buildings.The Gateway Building has applied to the Building Safety Fund and has been allocated £1.9 million upfront funding for pre-tender support to help get the remediation project out-to-tender. The overall expected cost of the remediation project at the Gateway Building to be funded by the Building Safety Fund is estimated at £16 million.

Cabinet Office

Candidates: Elections

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to support people who have disabilities to stand for election.

Johnny Mercer: It is the Government’s ambition to see more disabled people in public office. The Government has been clear that the responsibility for supporting disabled candidates sits with political parties and that the EnAble Fund was an interim measure to give parties time to put their own support in place.The government is committed to seeing more people with disabilities standing for local elections and becoming councillors. As part of the DLUHC funded 2022/23 local government sector support programme, delivered by the Local Government Association and launched in April this year, DLUHC supports a scheme which includes:a coaching programme for disabled councillors to support them as resilient and confident leaders of their communities;a campaign to attract more people with disabilities to stand for council elections and a new ‘Be a Councillor’ guide for disabled candidates who are considering standing for the 2023 elections;a bespoke leadership development programme for disabled councillors, which provides councillors with unique networking opportunities and support.

Universal Credit

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the findings of the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit's research into the experiences of potentially vulnerable people in receipt of Universal Credit was first presented to (a) the then Prime Minister, Rt Hon Theresa May MP and (b) the then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd.

Johnny Mercer: We do not hold centrally those who were in receipt of the report (dated three years ago) but details about the report are available as a Deposited Paper in the Libraries of the House (Ref: Dep2021-0836 Paper No. 7a).

Department for International Trade

UK Trade with EU

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of trade links between the UK and the European Union.

Penny Mordaunt: Statistics regarding UK trade with the EU are publicly available information which can be found online here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/balanceofpaymentsukjanuarytomarch2022

Department for International Trade: Legal Costs

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much their Department and its associated agencies spent on legal disputes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department for International Trade (DIT) is unable to provide spend on legal disputes, as this is not recorded separately to other forms of legal spend incurred by the Department. Legal and other professional services costs incurred by the Department are included within note 4 of DIT’s Annual Report and Accounts found here for financial year 2021/22, and here for financial year 2020/21.

Trade Agreements: Zimbabwe

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she last spoke to her Zimbabwean counterpart on UK-Zimbabwe trade links.

Penny Mordaunt: The Secretary of State for International Trade has not had recent discussions with her Zimbabwean counterparts. The Minister for Africa met with Foreign Minister Shava and Finance Minister Ncube in London on 30th June and discussed political and economic issues including trade and investment. The Minister for Africa noted that the UK would like to see Zimbabwe reach arrears clearance, and that this can happen if Zimbabwe successfully completes an IMF Staff Monitored Programme and makes reasonable progress on political reform. The UK remains open to constructive engagement with the Government of Zimbabwe on these issues.

Trade Agreements: Zimbabwe

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the trading relationship between the UK and Zimbabwe.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK continues to support trade and investment with Zimbabwe. In 2021, trade between the UK and Zimbabwe was £126 million. The UK-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement signed in 2020 ensures Zimbabwean companies continue to enjoy duty free and quota free exports to the UK. This agreement means shoppers in the UK can continue to enjoy Zimbabwean products like blueberries, peas and tea. The UK is also working with the Government of Zimbabwe to attract British investment in sectors such as renewable energy and financial services.

Department for International Trade: Advertising

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much their Department has spent on advertising in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department for International Trade (DIT) purchases all its advertising through Omnicom Media Group, the sole supplier for such services appointed by the Crown Commercial Service. Our expenditure with Omnicom was as follows:a) £13.94m in 2019/2020b) £15.47m in 2020/2021c) £12.88m in 2021/2022d) £1.11m to date in 2022/23

Iron and Steel: Import Duties

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with trade partners on the Government’s decision to extend steel import tariffs until mid-2024.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department has so far held discussions with Brazil, the EU, Switzerland and Japan. These discussions have included giving an overview of the UK trade remedies legislation and answering questions on how this relates to the extension of the safeguard measure.

Trade: USA

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has discussed with her US counterpart (a) the potential merits of reducing market barriers between the UK and US and (b) increasing levels of trade with that country.

Penny Mordaunt: The Secretary of State regularly raises increasing trade with her counterpart. In the last year, we’ve reduced market barriers through resolving the Large Civil Aircraft dispute, lifting the ban on the import of British beef and lamb, and removing tariffs on UK steel and aluminium. Removing the steel and aluminium tariffs support 80,000 jobs across the UK. At the recent Trade Dialogues, both parties agreed to develop a roadmap for further UK-US Trade. In parallel to our federal US strategy, the UK has signed two state-level MOUs that seek to reduce market barriers and hope to sign more in the coming months.

Department for International Trade: Aviation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much their Department has spent on air travel for (a) Ministers and (b) officials in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department for International Trade spent the following on air travel for the years ending 31 March 2020, 2021 and 2022 for both Ministers and officials. 2019-20202020-20212021-2022£2,826,000£148,000£1,510,000DIT Ministerial travel, gifts, hospitality and meetings are published on www.gov.uk -https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.

Trade Agreements: Japan

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the UK's Free Trade Agreement with Japan since 23 October 2020, what assessment she has made of the effect of that agreement on UK (a) small and medium enterprises, (b) financial services, (c) car manufacturers, (d) food safety, (e) animal welfare and (f) digital commerce.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department for International Trade (DIT) published an impact assessment of the long-term effects of UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 23 October 2020. This included an assessment of the potential impacts on small and medium enterprises, and across sectors – including automotive and financial services – alongside consideration of digital trade provisions. The Government has been clear that we will not compromise on our high food safety standards and animal welfare –CEPA is no exception to this. DIT has committed to publishing a biennial free trade agreement monitoring report starting in 2023 and a comprehensive evaluation report for CEPA within 5 years of its entry into force. The evaluation report will focus on specific sectors that monitoring suggests may have been particularly affected by the agreement.